Dish-cleaner



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1'.

E. E. SPARE.

DISH CLEANER.

No. 600,182. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

4 152/6722??? Erik/FE 67 17;. zzlsflizor/zg,

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

E. E. SPAR-R.

DISH CLEANER.

Nd. 600,182. PatentedMar. 8, 1898.

(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

E. E. SPARE.

DISH CLEANER.

No. 600,182. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERICK E. SPARR, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

DISH-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,182, dated March 8,1898.

Application filed Augu t 21,1897. Serial No. 649,010. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERICK E. SPARR, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dish-WashingApparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved dish-washingapparatus; and

to this end it consists of the novel devices and combinations of deviceshereinafter described, and defined in the claim.

The preferred form of my improved appara tus is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with some parts broken away and otherssectioned, showing my said apparatus. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, withsome parts broken away, showing the overhead track or rail, a truckmovable thereon, and a dish-rack suspended from said truck. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the washing and rinsing tanks, and Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of a reticulate or woven-wire catch-tray or false bottom.

I employ a pair of vats or tank-sections which are so constructed orconnected that one will overflow into the other and that the waterwithin the same will stand at difierent levels. As shown, both of thesevats or tanksections are formed in an elongated tank a,

which is divided into two compartments a and a by means of a transversevertical partition a the upper edge of which terminates short of the topof the tank a, so that the water may overflow from the vat ortank-section ct into the vat or tank-section a On account of the workwhich they perform I will hereinafter refer to the tank-sections a and athen extends onward into the washing-vat a and-at the bottom of thisvat'is again bent upon itself to form a series of U shapedheating-sections, (shown at 19 0 indicates a waste-pipe which isconnected to the bottom of each vat a a by branch sections 0', providedwith a valve 0 hand or discharge end of the washing-vat a is cutconsiderably lower than the top of the partition a so that the waterwithin-the said washing-vat will always stand considerably lower thanthe water within the rinsing-vat. At its discharge or right-hand endsaid washing-vat a overflows into a catch-trough d, which extendstransversely across said vat and is provided with a low-cut inner wall(1, which acts as'a skimmer and fixes the altitude of the column ofwater within said tank or vat of. The overflow-trough dis connected tothe waste-pipe o by means of a pipe (1 As shown, the last branch of thepipe-sections b is extended and opens into the pipe-section d and isprovided with a valve b In Fig. 1 the bottom of the elongated tank a isshown as supported some little distance above the floor by means ofshort legs a.

6 indicates a reticulate or wire-woven catchtray or false bottom whichis provided with lifting-links 6'. This tray or false bottom ispreferably placed on the bottom of the washing-vat a and serves to catchsmall articles which are being washed as well as refuse particles washedfrom the dishes and which are too large to be drawn off through thewastepipes c 0. Of course, if desired, such atray or false bottom mayalso be placed within the rinsing-vat a.

I provide an overhead track which is secured to the ceiling and onesection of which passes directly over both of the vatsa and a Preferablythis track is endlessthat is, extends from and returns to the sectionwhich stands over the vats. As shown, this overhead track is made up offlat bars or rail-sections g,,which are connected together at theirjoints by tie-plates g, which overlap the connected ends and are boltedthereto, as shown at 9 Said tie-plates g are considerably narrower thanthe rails or track-sections g, so as to permit the wheels of the truckhereinafter described to freely pass. The track above described is shownas supported from the ceil- The righting a by means of short rods 9which are screw-threaded at their ends and are screwed into thetie-plates g at their lower ends and intobase-pieces g at their upperends. The said base-pieces g may be secured to the ceiling by means ofscrews or in any other suitable manner.

The truck which runs over the overhead track g is made up of a Ushapedbracket is, the upturned prongs of which straddle the track, and flangedrollers or wheels which are pivotally mounted on said upturned prongsand run over the upper surface of the track-sections g.

An inverted-U-shaped sheave-bracket n, which is provided with aguide-sheave 'n','is suspended from the depending portion of the truckbracket or frame 70 by means of a swiveled connection M. A flexibleconnection 12, works over the sheave n. At one end the flexibleconnection a is provided with a grapple and at its other end with ahandpiece and counterpoise. This grapple preferably comprises a roundlink or ring 19, secured directly to said connection 01 a head or pairof plates 1), connected to said ring 1), and four rodsp loosely pivotedto said head 1) and provided at their free ends with hook portions 19The handpiece 0' at the other end of the connection of is shown asconnected to the lower end of a counterweight 0*, which in turn issecured directly to said connection 11 The counterweight r is providedwith a laterallyextended stem or stud r which is .formed with anelongated eye r through which the connection a normally works. Thiselongated eye r is of such dimensions that the ring 13 may be readilypassed therethrough when turned longitudinally thereof, but when turnedtransversely thereof will be caught and held thereby.

My improved dish-rack is adapted to be held by the grapple and carriedby the truck above described. This dish-rack is preferably constructedas follows:

25 indicates flat end plates which are spaced apart longitudinally ofthe rack by longitudinally extended parallel wooden rods 25 t Said endplates 15 are drawn and tightly held against the ends of said woodenrods t 6 respectively, by means of nutted draw bolts or rods t i Aseries of partition-rods t are passed transversely through the threeparallel upper rods 25 to form several series of stalls or seats intowhich the dishes maybe set edgewise for washing purposes.

i indicates sm all wheels,which are pivotally mounted on the lowercorners of the end plates 25. The addition of these rollers 25 to thedishrack gives a rack in the form of atruck,which may be readily rolledor wheeled about over the floor or other support upon which it rests.

z indicates dishes, which are shown as placed in the stalls of and aresupported by the dish-rack, and 2 indicates water contained within thevats a and (L The operation of handling and washing dishes with myimproved apparatus above described is substantially as follows: Byopening the valve Z) in the cold-water-supply pipe I) a continuous fiowand overflow of water from the vats a and a is provided for. By theproper manipulation of the steam-controlling valves b and b the water amay be kept at the proper temperature. The water from the tank orrinsing-vat a will overflow into the washing-vat a and the water fromthe washing-vat a will overflow into the catch-trough d. As thecatch-trough d and its side (1 extend completely across said vat a thesaid side d acts as a skimmer to cut off the upper greasy surface of thewater contained in said vat (L The greasy water which thus overflowswill be caught in the catch-trough (Z and find its only escape throughthe drip-pipe (1 The dishes are loaded 011 the dish rack or truck, asalready indicated. By means of the overhead truck and track andsuspending connections the dish-rack may be readily moved from one pointto another, either to collect or to distribute the dishes, and whenloaded with dishes the rack and dishes may, by the use of the handpiece0' and flexible connection a be lowered and submerged first into thewater of the washing-vat a and then into the waterof the rinsing-vat a.Nearly all of the dirt and grease will be removed from the dishes whilethey are submerged in the water of the washing-vat a and all thatremains on the dishes will be surely removed while they are submerged inthe rinsing-vat a.

The hooked ends 19 are adapted to be hooked onto the upper tie-rods i toconnect the grapple to the dish-rack. It will be noted that the saidtie-rods i are provided with fingers or projections 25 which prevent thecooperating pairs of grapple-rods p from drawing too closely together.

Preferably the weight of the counterpoise r is sufficient toapproximately counterbalance the Weight of the grapple and dish-rack.WVhen it is desired to secure the dish-rack, even when loaded withdishes, in a raised position, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, this may beVery readily accomplished simply by drawing downward on the handpiece 0'until the ring 1) is passed upward through the elongated eye 0' of thestem 0' and then by turning the dish-rack so that said ring 1) standscrosswise of said eye r The overhead track may be run from thewashing-vats to any part of a restaurant or house. furnishes aconvenient device for moving the loaded dish-rack from one vat toanother, but also serves as a most efficient kind of device forcollecting and distributing dishes from and to different parts of arestaurant, for example. The fact that the dishes may be loaded onto thedish-rack at a distant point, conveyed to the washing-vats, washed, andreturned to the point from which they were collected, or tosome properpoint of distri- ICO Hence this overhead track not only bution withoutin the meantime being removed from said rack, greatly reduces the numberof dishes which are broken in the process of washing.

It will be understood, of course, that various alterations in thespecific details of construction above described may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows In a dish-washing apparatus, the combination withthe overhead track and truck movable thereon, of the dish-tray providedwith projections t and the suspending connection involving the sheave ncarried by said truck, 15

the flexible connection n running over said sheave, the grapple-head psecured to one end of said flexible connection, and the fourhookedgrapple-rods p p pivoted to said head p and detachably engageable withsaid 20 projections t of said rack, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I ERICK E. SPARE.

Witnesses:

LILLIAN C. ELMoRE, FRANK D. MERCHANT.

